Three-dimensional (3D) silicon integration of active devices with through-silicon vias (TSVs), thinned silicon, and silicon-to-silicon fine-pitch interconnections offers many product benefits. Advantages of these emerging 3D silicon integration technologies can include the following: power efficiency, performance enhancements, significant product miniaturization, cost reduction, and modular design for improved time to market. IBM research activities are aimed at providing design rules, structures, and processes that make 3D technology manufacturable for chips used in actual products on the basis of data from test-vehicle (i.e., prototype) design, fabrication, and characterization demonstrations. Three-dimensional integration can be applied to a wide range of interconnection densities (<10/cm2 to 108/cm2), requiring new architectures for product optimization and multiple options for fabrication. Demonstration test structures, which are designed, fabricated, and characterized, are used to generate experimental data, establish models and design guidelines, and help define processes for future product consideration. This paper 1) reviews technology integration from a historical perspective, 2) describes industry-wide progress in 3D technology with examples of TSV and silicon-silicon interconnection advancement over the last 10 years, 3) highlights 3D technology from IBM, including demonstration test vehicles used to develop ground rules, collect data, and evaluate reliability, and 4) provides examples of 3D emerging industry product applications that could create marketable systems.

Three-dimensional silicon integration

As technology scales into the deep submicron regime, noise immunity is becoming a metric of comparable importance to area, timing, and power for the analysis and design of VLSI systems. This paper defines noise as it pertains to digital systems and addresses the technology trends which are bringing noise issues to the forefront. The noise sources which are plaguing digital systems are explained. A metric referred to as noise stability is defined, and a static noise analysis methodology based on this metric is introduced to demonstrate how noise can be analyzed systematically. Analysis issues associated with on-chip interconnect are also considered. This paper concludes with a discussion of the device, circuit, layout, and logic design issues associated with noise.

/pdf/noise-in-deep-submicron-digital-design-13g2jtbkkt.pdf

Noise in deep submicron digital design

We examine electrical performance issues associated with advanced VLSI semiconductor on-chip interconnections or “interconnects.” Performance can be affected by wiring geometry, materials, and processing details, as well as by processor-level needs. Simulations and measurements are used to study details of interconnect and insulator electrical properties, pulse propagation, and CPU cycle-time estimation, with particular attention to potential advantages of advanced materials and processes for wiring of high-performance CMOS microprocessors. Detailed performance improvements are presented for migration to copper wiring, low-e dielectrics, and scaled-up interconnects on the final levels for long-line signal propagation.

VLSI on-chip interconnection performance simulations and measurements

A newly developed optical method for noninvasively measuring the switching activity of operating CMOS integrated circuit chips is described. The method, denoted as picosecond imaging circuit analysis (PICA) can be used to characterize the gate-level performance of such chips and identify the locations and nature of their operational faults. The principles underlying PICA and examples of its use are discussed.

Picosecond imaging circuit analysis

A novel snubber-clamped diode-string ESD protection circuit for mixed voltage interface microprocessor applications is described. Analytical models, circuit simulation, electrical characterization, ESD electrothermal simulation, ESD test data, and an ESD analytical failure model are shown for shallow trench isolation (STI) and LOCOS CMOS technologies.

J. H. Givens

Papers

A half-micron CMOS logic generation